BUSINESS BRIEF

First Defiance’s 2nd quarter profits up 56%

DEFIANCE — First Defiance Financial Corp. reported Monday that its profits rose 56 percent in second quarter and its loan-loss provision fell substantially from the same period a year earlier.

The company, which owns First Federal Bank of the Midwest, said its profit totaled $6.1 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $3.9 million, or 38 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

Net interest income, a key measure of a bank’s health, was down 2 percent in the second quarter, totaling $16.9 million, compared to $17.2 million a year ago. The provision for loan loss, or funds set aside to handle bad loans, was $448,000, which compared with $4.1 million for the same period a year ago. The company’s provision for loan loss was just $425,000 in the first quarter of 2013.